


Cereal and Sweet Dreams

by Missuniverse5000bc



Category: DC's Legends of Tomorrow (TV)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-05
Updated: 2019-04-19
Packaged: 2019-10-04 12:39:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 6,412
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17304803
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Missuniverse5000bc/pseuds/Missuniverse5000bc
Summary: “Hey Z” Charlie grinned with her usual ridiculous smirk, as she entered the Waverider’s kitchen. Zari sighed reminding herself that she and Charlie had somewhat made up - the shapeshifter wasn’t necessarily here to deliberately annoy her.Charlie picked up her box of cereal curiously, before grabbing a bowl from the side and pouring the rest of the packet into it, tossing the empty box to one side.Nope. Zari scowled, Guess she was still trying to piss her off.





	1. Chapter 1

“Hey Z” Charlie grinned with her usual ridiculous smirk, as she entered the Waverider’s kitchen. Zari sighed reminding herself that she and Charlie had somewhat made up - the shapeshifter wasn’t necessarily here to deliberately annoy her.

Charlie picked up her box of cereal curiously, before grabbing a bowl from the side and pouring the rest of the packet into it, tossing the empty box to one side.

 _Nope._ Zari scowled, _Guess she was still trying to piss her off._

Charlie pulled a face, “Blimey that’s sweet” She announced through a mouthful of cereal.

“If you don’t like it then why would you pour yourself that much?” Zari tried not to let the frustration enter her voice.

“I didn’t know I wouldn’t like it, what can I say - I’m not afraid to take a risk” Charlie winked.

Zari simply rolled her eyes, Charlie was infuriating. And annoyingly attractive, which was even more infuriating. She stood up to leave,

“Look if you’re just here to insult my cereal-”

She was surprised when Charlie quickly placed a hand on her arm, stopping her

“No, no I just wanted to chat, I got bored“

 

Zari would’ve assumed Charlie was joking again, not about being bored but about wanting a chat rather than an argument, if not for the genuinely vulnerable look that flashed across her face for a moment. Zari couldn’t quite bring herself to tell Charlie she just wanted some peace and quiet whilst she ate her midnight cereal, not when it wasn’t that long ago that she had been the newbie still unsure about where she fit in the group. She mentally cursed herself for being so soft but sat back down anyway.

“Didn’t feel like bothering Jon instead?” Zari asked, _not_ bitterly

Charlie shrugged “I think we’ve caused enough trouble together for now.” She looked sheepish at least, “I thought you’d keep me out of trouble instead.”

“I’m not a babysitter y’know” Zari found herself saying, somehow ending up lacking the snark she was intending.

“Oh yeah?” Charlie smirked “You seem to end up in charge when Mum’s not around”

 _How did I end up one of the responsible ones?_ Zari thought to herself mildly horrified. She certainly didn’t expect to be lecturing others on the rules of time travel when she first joined this weird team/family. She was really starting to feel sorry for Sara having to deal with all her bullshit back then.

 

“Anyway,” Charlie snapped her out of her thoughts “we’re friends now aren’t we?”

“I guess” Zari agreed reluctantly, she couldn’t deny that she really was starting to think of Charlie as a friend now.

“No reason why we can’t hang about then” Charlie reasoned, “As long as you don’t tell the others you’re my fave legend” She winked. Zari rolled her eyes.

Charlie looked thoughtful, she changed topics “Did you think you were gonna stay when you first joined?”

Well, that was a question she could answer straight away “Pfft, no.”

“But then?” Charlie prompted

Zari shrugged, “Like I said before, I found my place here…”

 

Charlie seemed to be considering this, glancing down at her hands clasped on the table in from of her. She was unusually quiet, her face softer than Zari had seen it since her apology.

She looked up suddenly, catching Zari staring and once again than infernal smirk was back.

“Still think I’m hot?” She leaned across the table,

“Bye Charlie” Zari stood and this time turned to leave, avoiding the question. That was enough of that conversation.

She made as far as the doorway before she almost walked straight into Sara who raised her eyebrows in amusement having clearly heard the end of their conversation.

Zari ignored this and brushed past her, of course Sara would mistake her and Charlie’s arguing for flirting. Just because she and Ava started out like that didn’t mean Zari and Charlie were the same.

 

She could feel her cheeks still burning as she got back to her bunk. She collapsed onto her bed face down and groaned in frustration.

_Is everything alright Ms Tomaz?_

“Fine Gideon.” She mumbled shortly.

 

Video games would have to provide enough of a distraction for now, it wasn’t long before she was starting to lose track of how many levels she had passed through or how long she had spent trying not to let her mind wander.

 _Who needs sleep anyway?_ Had been her reasoning. Although It turned out she did, in fact, need sleep, finding her eyes drooping. She sprawled out on her bed, there wasn’t any point in getting changed for bed now - her flannel shirt and jeans would be fine.

She allowed her eyes to close and finally dozed off.

 

She could feel warm hands running through her hair, and lips against her neck. Everything else was hazy but the warm weight above her was unavoidably familiar-

Zari sat up abruptly, tearing her eyes open. She couldn’t even seem to escape Charlie in her dreams.

_Well, she was well and truly screwed now._

 

And she’d barely managed an hour of sleep on top of _that_ problem. She kicked her covers off and stormed towards the kitchen, frustrated at herself for managing to crush on Charlie of all people.

Only before she could make it to the kitchen she turned down the hallway and found Charlie sauntering towards her.

She took in Zari’s foul mood immediately then stopped and asked, “What’s up with you?”

“Leave it” Zari tried to brush past her

Charlie stopped her, _of course she did,_ and looked genuinely concerned “Z?”

Zari could feel her chest heaving and her head aching, she wasn’t even sure what she was angry at anymore. She was trying to be angry at Charlie, for somehow making her feel this way about her, anger was easier to deal with than whatever this was.

She exhaled slowly, trying to ease some of the tension from her shoulders but she could still feel herself shaking and Charlie’s hand on her shoulder.

 

Charlie was still staring at her, confused, when Zari grabbed the front of her jacket and pulled her against her, pressing their lips together. If Charlie was surprised then she didn’t show it, wrapping her arms around Zari’s waist almost immediately and melting into the kiss.

Zari finally relaxed, the tension leaving her body until they pulled apart, dazed.

 

“Um…” Charlie tried, at a loss for words maybe for the first time in her life.

Zari fidgeted with her shirt sleeves, “So.. That was…”

“Good” Charlie finished

“Yep.”

They looked at each other awkwardly, even Charlie’s usual confident flirting was failing to make an appearance.

 

Zari opened her mouth to say something, _anything_ when Sara’s voice sounded throughout the ship calling them all to the bridge.

When she looked back at Charlie she seemed to have snapped out of her haze, the smirk was back, but this time Zari couldn’t bring herself to be annoyed.

“Well maybe post-mission we can continue where we left off, ey?” Charlie suggested.

Zari met her gaze and nodded, then followed her towards the bridge,

“Alright, if we survive this one” She smiled.


	2. Chapter 2

“Alright, Legends” Sara announced when the rest of the team eventually made it to the bridge. Mick being the last to arrive thankfully which meant Zari and Charlie’s late arrival didn’t strike anyone as unusual. At least Zari hoped it didn’t.

Mick was drinking as usual and John looked somber, Ray was the only one who actually looked enthusiastic.

“What are we dealing with this time, Captain?”

Sara clasped her hands together, “Okay so we don’t exactly know. -Yet. Gideon?” She prompted,

 

_I have located new magical events in 17th century rural Britain - Cornwall to be more precise._

 

Mick grunted, unimpressed.

Zari herself wasn’t overly thrilled to be back in stuffy Victorian clothing, though this mission already sounded less like they would be needing overly glamorous outfits. She glanced over at Charlie who caught her eye and smiled slightly, which Zari couldn’t help but return. She was still feeling a weird mix of relief and shock that she had actually gone through with that kiss. On top of that, there was the vaguely hazy feeling which hadn’t left her since.

Sara’s voice snapped her out of her thoughts, and she cursed herself for getting distracted.

 

“Since we don’t know what we’re looking for yet we’re gonna head down there and investigate, our first priority is working out what we’re dealing with. Got it?”

The rest of the legends agreed, with varying levels of commitment. Sara seemed satisfied enough by their responses though,

“Let’s go then, the English countryside awaits”  


They were hit with the fresh scent of manure the second they stepped off of the Waverider.

“What’s wrong Mick, not enjoying that fresh country air?” Zari joked after seeing his disgusted expression.

“I hate nature” He muttered.

“Aw c’mon Mick, it's just like being back in the boy scouts!” Ray attempted to cheer him up and Zari reluctantly admired his somehow undying optimism.

“I was never in the stupid boy scouts” Mick growled, to no one's surprise.

“Are we just going to stand ‘round here all day or are we going to get a move on?” John interrupted, his black dress shoes were not doing great in the mud. The others were fairing slightly better in their boots and period clothing but Zari could see her own woolen skirt trailing in the mud wherever her feet sank too deep.

Sara sighed, “No, we’re going to head towards that village there.” She pointed to the gate the other side of the field, there was a path leading down to some houses which at least meant that they weren't completely in the middle of nowhere.

Hitching up her skirts Zari followed Sara and an excited Ray across the field as they took the lead. The rest of them trailed behind through the mud, Charlie fell into step beside her, “I definitely prefer London”

“Funnily enough I’d rather not be in a field knee-deep in mud either” Zari agreed

“Not enjoying our romantic stroll then?” Charlie joked, nudging her with her elbow

“Wow Charlie, if this is your idea of a date you’d better up your game” Zari returned easily,

Charlie laughed loud enough that Sara turned round to look at them curiously, probably confused that they weren’t arguing for once (at least not with any real intent or annoyance) before returning her focus to whatever Ray was jabbering about.

They might have to consider being slightly more subtle about whatever this as between them Zari was starting to realise, she was perhaps more obvious about her feelings than she would like to admit.

 

The first few houses along the lane were quiet, spaced out with large gardens, nothing particularly unusual so they continued further into the village without hesitating too long. It was as they got closer to the village centre where rows of closely packed houses lined the track that they finally saw some other people about.

A crowd was gathered outside one of the houses. The term crowd might have been over exaggerating a bit but 5 people was probably a large crowd in proportion to this sleepy village Zari mused.

 

A closer view explained what the villagers were staring at, the house in the centre of the row was covered in unusually thick brambles right up its front and across the roof, the garden too was full of thorns a good 6ft tall and leaving the door to the house barely visible.

“Looks like this place is in need of a touch of gardening” Ray joked lightly,

“Just a tad” Charlie agreed

An elderly woman in front of the Legends whirled around, “It's that wicked Tremaine child that did this. That garden was perfectly maintained yesterday”

“Is anyone in there?” Sara checked quickly.

The woman seemed eager to share her knowledge of the village gossip, probably some old busybody with nothing better to do Zari thought.

“No, no Mr Tremaine works as a farmhand with my son-in-law and his Mrs was at church with the rest of us all morning. Lord knows where that wretched child was, Margaret saw her running through the village shrieking an hour or so ago-” She frowned.

“What do you mean their child did this?” Zari interrupted

The villager sighed “Her family has been cursed with weird misfortune ever since she was born. Just last week there was the house flooding and the sinkhole in the yard and now this! Everyone who interacts with that child is plagued with problems too”

The legends looked at each other, some of those incidents could have been very unlucky coincidences but there was definitely nothing natural about those vines.

 

“You don't happen to know where this Mrs Tremaine is now do you love?” John intervened.

The elderly woman sighed, seeming genuinely sympathetic this time,

“She was headed back towards the church, poor lass probably doesn’t know where to start dealing with this mess.”

Sara thanked her then motioned for the group to move further away from prying ears.

“Well, I don't know _that_ much about kids but that doesn't sound normal”

John shook his head, “No, seems like faerie mischief to me”

Zari looked towards Charlie who was nodding in agreement, she didn’t seem terribly worried about this possibility so Zari could only hope this magical being wouldn’t cause them too much trouble, not after Salem.

“Another fairy godmother?” Ray suggested, clearly having the same thoughts.

“It better not be” Mick grumbled and Charlie laughed sharply, “There’s one hell of a lot of faerie kinds, hate to break it to you guys”

“Charlie is right, we’re going to need more information here. Especially if our faerie friend is concealing themselves.” John added, lighting a cigarette not-so-subtly. “If we want more info then our best bet is to find this kid, and find out what kind of fae magic this is.” He started an incantation in Latin, Zari’s vision clouded and when it returned the world seemed slightly off like there was a dusky undertone to it. Zari glared at him, “Er John care to explain what that was?”

He seemed unconcerned “Just a little incantation love, to give all you lot some help in seeing concealed magic - particularly the faerie kind”

“Thank you, John.” Sara sighed “Although a little warning would have been appreciated.” She put a hand on Mick’s shoulder, stopping him from going to punch the Brit.

Sara tried to refocus the group “Okay, we’ll split up - me and John will head to church and see if Mrs Tremaine has any more info, Mick and Ray, see if you can head up to the farm Mr Tremaine works on to talk to him” she paused “You two” she turned to Zari and Charlie, “Ask around, see if anyone has seen the kid recently and see if you can find her or our fugitive but do _not_ engage yet”

“‘Alright Boss” Charlie mock-saluted, she turned to Zari and gestured  “After you,”

Zari rolled her eyes but set off down the track anyway as the group dispersed into twos.

 


	3. Chapter 3

As they made their way through the village there didn’t seem to be many people around, Zari looked over at Charlie who was scuffing her feet along the ground irritatingly.

“Did you have much experience with fairies then?” Zari asked half curious and half just wanting to get her to stop dragging her feet and pick up the pace a bit,

Charlie shrugged “A bit, they mostly kept out of my way. Some are more trouble than others though.” She smirked, “Do you have much experience with kids?”

Zari laughed and shrugged too  “A bit.”

“Well looks like we’ve got this one in the bag then” She grinned

Zari rolled her eyes, “Don’t jinx it, ”

They approached an equally empty village green, although as they were deciding which way to head from there someone small and running came down the opposite lane towards the green and into their line of vision.

Zari was expecting it to be the kid they were searching for but was surprised when that was not the case. She looked towards Charlie, “Well, we’ve found our faerie”

They didn’t have wings as Zari had expected, they were short and more goblin-like with greenish skin, their features were definitely not human and they couldn’t have been more than 3ft.

“The mischievous kinda faerie that's for sure, but I don’t think they really intended to hurt anyone. They’re not even fully grown, just a confused kid” Charlie mused, staring ahead.

 

The fairy was still legging it down the path when a disheveled man appeared after them although trailing quite far behind.

“Lucy Tremaine get back here!” The man yelled although he sounded very out of breath. 

Zari blinked, confused

_Wait that’s the child we’re looking for?_

Seeming to read her thoughts Charlie answered, “A changeling - this little tyke is our faerie _and_ the Tremaine child.” She realised. “I’ve never met a real changeling before y’know. Most of the babies you humans thought were changelings were just ill or had a disability their parents didn’t understand so they blamed magic instead”

“I’ve never known people to do that before” Zari spoke sarcastically her mind returning to Salem once again. 

“The faerie kid is probably equally unhappy here, hence all the magic tricks. We just need to convince ‘em that we can return them to their family” Charlie paused, “We’ll have to catch them first though...”

“Oi kid!” She yelled, the faerie looked startled but didn’t stop running, instead they shot off over the fence and through a garden. Zari was not at all surprised that Charlie's "plan" didn't work.

“Bollocks” Charlie muttered kicking a stone across the ground.

 

Zari decided she should probably follow a different course of action. “Erm Sara?” She spoke into her comms,

“Zari, any luck? The kid is named Lucy, 5 years old, short brown hair apparently” Their Captain rattled off quickly,

“Yeah…” Zari paused “little Lucy _is_ the fairy”

“A changeling” Charlie added still sounding frustrated

There was a muffled conversation for a few moments, presumedly Sara discussing this new information with John. “Everyone regroup at the house, we’ll go from there” She decided.

 

In the short time it took them to retrace their steps the vines had clearly spread, right out onto the road and to the neighbouring houses. The Tremaine’s house was completely obscured by the greenery now.

John and Sara were already back and staring wide-eyed at the growing problem in front of them. The vines were visibly spreading across the floor.

A vine reached the foot of a villager foolishly standing too close and staring at the vine in horror, it wound tightly around his leg before he could move away. Sara immediately pulled one of probably _many_ knives she had hidden on herself and dived towards him, slicing the plant and pushing the villager out of the way.

“John any ideas??” Sara yelled as Ray and Mick appeared and stopped both looking equally stunned.

John, looking far too relaxed for the situation, answered casually “The vines aren't going to stop growing until the changeling stops casting this spell”

“Well, how do we stop it from casting this spell then?” Sara pressed, slicing another couple of vines only for them to grow back and continue spreading.

 

Mick torched a vine near him which served to slow it for a moment as it was reduced to a carbon shell until it began to regain its health, becoming green and alive once again.

Charlie turned to John “The faerie is only a kid too, I don't even think the little tyke knows what they're doing”

Zari silently agreed, before realising it wasn’t just this fairy kid they had to worry about. “And what do we do about the actual Lucy?”

“What if we go back in time and swap them back?” Charlie suggested quickly, Sara seemed to consider this. “Is that possible?”

John put his hands into his pockets and rocked back on his feet “I need to find the right spell first but yes. In theory.”

Satisfied with that answer Sara made a decision “We need to deal with getting the villagers out of their houses and away from the vines” She told Ray who nodded as Mick grunted.

“You three, take the jumpship and find when this kid was swapped so you can swap them back” Sara turned to face Zari and Charlie. John was also included in that request apparently.

“The dream team” Zari muttered sarcastically. Charlie looped arms with both of them grinning cheekily ”At least we’ve got the hang of fixin’ timelines now!”

Zari decided not to justify that with a response other than a brief eye roll.

 

Back on the Waverider John went straight to the library in search of a spell, whilst Zari and Charlie headed to the bridge. With Gideon’s help, they should be able to look into when the magic events related to the Tremaines began and go from there Zari reasoned. Hopefully preventing the future where some confused faerie kid was causing chaos because they were feeling lost and alone and also helping a human kid trapped who-knows-where and probably feeling the same.

Zari could feel Charlie hovering over her shoulder, as she stood at one of the monitors searching through records from that time period. She ignored her and pressed on with at least trying to complete this mission. Or at least she tried too, Charlie was fully leaning up against her back now.

“Look do you even want us to help these kids?” Zari scowled, trying to hide her annoyance at how easily flustered she was.

Charlie had the audacity to rest her chin on Zari’s shoulder. “Of course I do love, doesn’t mean we can’t have a bit of fun whilst working though” She joked, her lips brushing against Zari’s neck causing her to shiver lightly.

“Later.” Zari insisted and refocused, although slower than she would have liked to admit “They were definitely swapped by the time Lucy should have been 2, that's the first hint of weird events.”

Charlie pulled away, serious now. _Finally._

“Alright, lets see how John is getting on then head to the jumpship”

 

They almost walked straight into John as he was leaving the library, “Good timing” He mused, holding up a thick old book with a comically mismatched pink post-it note sticking out of what Zari assumed was the relevant page. The three of them wordlessly headed towards the jumpship, Zari immediately took the pilot seat and plotted their journey.

“I’m surprised Sara even trusted the 3 of us as a team” John muttered darkly, Charlie elbowed him in the side.

“Don’t say that John-o, we learnt our lesson last time. I reckon Sara assumes we won’t make that mistake more than once. ‘Right of passage ‘ey Zari?”

Zari huffed but was glad she was facing away from them as she smiled anyway “If you two try any shit this time I will leave you both stranded in 17th Century England, I mean it”.


	4. Chapter 4

The village still looked almost identical. Well, apart from the obvious lack of magical vines this time. They didn’t waste time making their way to the Tremaine house, it was late in the evening and there was clearly a fire burning as smoke rose from the chimney.

“Charlie!” Zari hissed as she crept straight across the front garden and disappeared around the side of the house, leaving John and Zari to follow helplessly.

Thankfully Charlie had stopped there, crouching below a window covered mostly by wooden shutters which had a small gap where they had not been closed fully. The three of them peered inside, the adult Tremaines had their backs to them sat at a small wooden table but there was a cot at the other side of the room. It was definitely the fairy child - at least they’d got their timings right, Zari breathed a sigh of relief. Now they just needed a way of swapping them back without causing too much of a commotion. 

 

Charlie leaned her head around the back of the house “We could break in through that door?” She shrugged,

“And just kidnap their child?” Zari shook her head incredulously. Charlie looked like she was weighing the pros and cons of this idea in her head. She was clearly still considering this as a valid option when she continued to meet Zari’s gaze and simply raised her shoulders again. Annoyingly, John also seemed to be not entirely opposed to Charlie’s suggestion.

“Well we’re bringing their actual child back aren’t we?” He commented, leaving Zari to be the voice of reason.

“We don’t want the whole village on high alert because a child was stolen, even if only temporarily.” She sighed, finally getting through to the others.

John stood up, moving away from the window. “Well, we’ll have to get them to invite us in then…”

 

Zari and Charlie exchanged a confused glance before following John to the front door. He knocked briskly and straightened his jacket, a confused Mrs Tremaine opened the door.

“Sorry to bother you love, you see we were traveling but we appear to have gotten rather lost, you don’t have a map or something we could look at?” He tried,

Mrs Tremaine did not immediately invite them in but she did look concerned rather than suspicious which was hopefully a good sign. “Where’re you headed?” 

“Truro” John supplied, after a slightly awkward pause for thought. Mrs Tremaine shook her head sadly, preparing to give them bad news.

“You’re a long way away that's for sure… you won’t find anywhere to stay before sunsets”

The three of them attempted to look disappointed. “There’s no inn here then?” Zari asked knowing full well there wasn’t from their earlier (/future?) look around the village. When Mrs Tremaine told them this, Charlie pulled some coins from her pocket. “We have some money we could offer in return for a place to stay - just for the night”

Zari crossed her fingers inside the pockets of her skirt, if they didn’t manage to get invited into the house like this they were back to square one and their less desirable plan B of breaking in and just taking the kid/fairy. Mrs Tremaine finally replied “We have no spare rooms but we could offer you the front room? If you don’t mind the floor.”

Zari felt them all exhale a breath of relief before quickly reassuring her “Not at all”

“That’s fine by me, my feet are knackered.” Charlie insisted, placing the coins in Mrs Tremaine’s hand.

 

The house was only one room downstairs with a corner full of cooking pots and a wash basin stood on its side by the fireplace, it was probably the same upstairs too. There wasn’t much furniture apart from the wooden table, a couple of chairs and of course the cradle. 

They were lead inside and introduced to Mr Tremaine who seemed to have the impartial attitude of Mick although with a lot less aggression. He didn’t oppose them being there though and was definitely satisfied by their payment so that was something at least.

 

Zari looked over at the Tremaine’s from where she, Charlie and John were seated on the rug by the fire. Mrs Tremaine had what she believed to be her baby in her arms now and Zari was unsure where to go next with their plan. They were hardly going to leave their baby downstairs with a bunch of strangers but it wasn’t easy to think of a suitable distraction that would give them the opportunity to perform John’s spell and swap the children back without either parent noticing.

Mrs Tremaine, or Augusta as she had introduced herself, was more talkative than expected. She was plying the three of them with questions that were already starting to become harder to answer.

“You don’t have any bags with you? Won’t you need supplies for such a long journey?” She noticed, Zari glanced at the others in panic. “We er lost them? The last inn we stayed at, they were taken…” Not her best lie by a long shot but hopefully that would be enough to keep Augusta satisfied for now.

“Pinched right out from under our noses” Charlie added in support when Augusta didn’t immediately respond. Augusta hummed, “Where was this? Which direction did you say you’d come from again?”

Zari paused “Oh we didn’t manage to get the name of the village….” 

Mrs Tremaine was becoming increasingly suspicious of their wishy-washy answers.

“Who are you really?” She stood up. Mr Tremaine cut in “Why are you here?” 

Sensing they were dangerously close to getting kicked out of the house Zari decided it was probably best to just tell the truth.

Charlie had the same idea, “Look, just give us a minute to explain properly. Please?” She almost begged. Augusta relented after a moment, “It better be a good explanation.” She huffed but sat back down.

 

Zari and Charlie both turned to John, Zari clapped him on the back of the shoulder letting him do the talking this time.

“You see,” He began “We’re worried about your daughter”

Augusta held her baby against her tightly, stroking her hair. “Why? What’s wrong with Lucy?”

John stepped forward, “It might be best if I just show you”

This was probably not the best cause of action but the Tremaine’s were unlikely to believe them without proof. Augusta turned away from them, sheltering her baby.

John quickly began his earlier incantation again but Mr Tremaine lurched towards the warlock aggressively. Zari lifted her hand to her totem in response but Charlie was quicker, she moved into Mr Tremaine’s path and Zari inhaled sharply as a dull crack sounded. A wave of nausea passed over her as she rushed towards Charlie grabbing her arm and preparing to force Mr Tremaine away from them. He stopped in his tracks though, looking dizzy for a moment as he adjusted to John’s spell.

“What did you do?” He yelled, covering his eyes with his hands frantically.

“Your daughter has been swapped for a faerie child.” John explained pointing towards ‘Lucy’, the Tremaines turned to look at their child slowly, the shock becoming visible across their faces.

John took a cautious step towards them, Zari unconsciously made sure Charlie was still behind her as John approached Mrs Tremaine. “Its okay love, we’re here to help get your daughter back.” John tried to reassure Augusta who still looked horrified.

 

Zari turned her attention back to Charlie who had a slow trickle of blood coming from her nose. “Alright?” She asked, cupping her cheek to turn her face towards her and looking to see if her nose was broken - it didn’t look like it thankfully. 

“Eh, don’t worry 'bout me” Charlie deflected, shoving her hands in her pockets. “I’m fine.” She insisted softly when Zari couldn’t get rid of the worried look on her face quick enough, she lowered her hand awkwardly. Charlie held her sleeve up against her bleeding nose but still smiled weakly at Zari anyway.

 

“How? How will you help her?” Augusta demanded, snapping Zari’s attention back to the situation at hand. John was stood beside her, “A spell, like the one I just performed but a tad more complex. To summon the faerie’s kin and make them return your little’un.”

Augusta held the faerie child away from herself warily, before agreeing to let them help. Seeing she still looked quite dizzy Charlie stepped forward and gently took the faerie kid from her arms, allowing the Tremaines to take a seat. “Alright mate, let’s get you home” Charlie said, surprisingly softly, to the fairy kid nestled against her chest. 


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah I have no excuse for how long this took to update.... Soz guys

None of them quite dared to question John as he began drawing an unrecognisable symbol on the wooden floor, the old book spread out next to him. 

“Alright” John stood up and motioned to Charlie, “I need you to stand there and hold onto the faerie.” He pointed at a space within the markings on the floor then took a handful of miscellaneous ingredients out of a pouch he took from his pockets.

 

Charlie nodded firmly and moved to the centre of the symbol. The trust she was beginning to place in the team surprised Zari, she also felt a faint sense of relief - it was a small reassurance that Charlie would stay a part of their team rather than leaving as soon as she got a better offer. Zari tried not to think too much about that, mainly just how affected she would be if Charlie left them, left  _ her.  _

John began his incantation, the symbol glowing in response and Zari held her breath where she stood with clenched her fists, trying not to show her nerves. 

There was an eerie silence for a few moments before two figures appeared with a crack of light. They looked confused at best (the taller faerie on the left) and downright furious at worst (their stockier companion), “Who are you?” he snarled at John who immobilised them both with a second spell. Their gazes turned to the faerie child in Charlie’s arms and the taller fae gasped, she looked genuinely emotional. “What do you want with a faerie child? Why do you have my daughter?”

Perhaps the plan was not doomed to fail after all Zari considered, the mother didn’t sound like one who had left her own child behind to steal someone else's… Her companion however seemed to know a lot more about the situation than she did - his eyes flicked around the room and he seemed distinctly nervous beneath the rage.

 

“We have a deal.” John announced “The human child you stole in return for your own that you abandoned in her place.”

The faerie mother’s expression turned vicious “I would never have left my daughter” 

“No deal.” The other faerie interrupted harshly. “Powerful faeries are willing to do many things for a Human child, they love a rare pet.” 

“So you’re willing to just leave your child here alone?” Charlie spat before Zari could even begin to form a retort to his cruelty.

He shrugged coldly “My niece, but yes. It was not a decision made lightly but I have great plans and they come at a price.”

His sister turned to him enraged, “That is not your deal to make, and not your child to trade away.” The two siblings glared at each other.

“You won’t find the human baby without me, you have nothing to trade them with” Her brother replied without flinching.

 

“Plan B it is then.” John declared pushing his sleeves up. “Maybe you’ll reconsider once you’ve caught a glimpse of where I could send you.” 

A portal began to tear open and Zari cast her gaze to Charlie with concern in her eyes, Charlie however had already turned her body and the faerie child away from facing the portal so Zari couldn’t tell how this was affecting her.

The room became louder and the air around Zari rushed past her ears, she shut her eyes instinctively as she felt a wave of energy explode through the room. The breath was knocked out of her as she collided with something and uncontrollably gave way to unconsciousness.

  
  
  
  


“Z? Zari?”

Zari blinked her eyes open, she felt like she was fighting against weighted eyelids. Charlie was hovering over her nervously and Zari scrunched her nose in confusion.

“What the hell happened?”

Charlie laughed in relief, Zari could feel her shake from where she was now keenly aware her head was resting in Charlie’s lap.

“You missed the big showdown, love. John’s spell was a little more powerful than expected… Flung us all across the room and you smacked your head against that table there. But, good news is the threat of hell was enough to convince our fugitive to return Lucy with a little spell of his own.”

Charlie paused for thought before continuing, her fingers resumed running through Zari’s hair too. “The Time Bureau is dealing with the Tremaine family’s memories, can’t have them knowing changelings are real. Humans have caused enough trouble with false accusations as it is without adding to that fear, right?”

Zari nodded dumbly.  

“And they’ve taken the faerie back to the bureau with them, ‘though not before we let the mother escape with her kid of course” Charlie winked 

“S’good” Was all Zari could add to that, she was genuinely relieved that both mothers were reunited with their children. Reluctantly she began to sit up and was guided back to the jumpship. John remained thankfully quiet and didn’t comment on her attachment to Charlie the entire journey back.

 

It wasn’t till after the Legends had regrouped and debriefed followed by  a quick trip to the medbay for Zari that she and Charlie finally got a chance to talk. 

“So.” Charlie began. “Does this count as later?” She started cautiously from where she was perched at the end of Zari’s bed. She was definitely nervous. If she wasn’t she would be sprawled out dramatically taking up as much room as possible rather than sitting with her hands in her lap almost politely. 

Zari just nodded and tucked her legs beneath her, “I like you” She muttered, it wasn’t worth dancing around the subject and she was too tired to put any effort into her usual sarcasm or keeping her guard up.

Charlie picked at a loose thread in her ripped jeans “Me? Or Amaya?” 

_ “You  _ Charlie” Zari stressed, and it was the truth. She’d stopped seeing Charlie as Amaya a long time ago. They were so different it was impossible not to, Charlie was her own person and a person that Zari was only just admitting she really really liked.

“You’re annoying, but brave. And you genuinely care about giving other magical creatures a fair shot, and you helped the team see that. You helped me see that. You’re more than just your powers Charlie, you’re a Legend.” Charlie was staring back at Zari intensely as she spoke until suddenly Zari was surrounded by Charlie who flung her arms round her in a tight hug. They stayed pressed against each other till Charlie drew back eventually with a signature smug grin.

“So…” She repeated, this time with much more confidence. Zari rolled her eyes as per usual but this time pulled her in for a kiss.

**Author's Note:**

> First fic for this pairing so let me know what you think!


End file.
